A head-start to composing and producing music for all amateur singer/songwriters.

1. By Shankha Subhra Chatterjee
Youtube Channel :
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpUYROAf-JuoqPj5-
87ALQ
AND
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq3R-
608aVmqz9L_UsyyjLw
The Acoustic
Singer/Songwriter Manual

2. Hi People, I am a part-time
singer/songwriter hobbyist from Kolkata,
India. Currently, I live in Bangalore, India.
My name is Shankha.
Although I have not met phenomenal
success in music, I have been composing
for about two years now and my sound
has evolved over the years.
There are a few things I found out in
course of time that I wish someone told
me earlier. So, here I am, telling you.

3.  You always start from within. Find your
inspiration and identify the music that
works for you. First step, and a very
important one at that.
 It will help if you have trained in any
form of music. Vocals, piano, guitar,
violin, sitar or any instrument you can
lay your hand on. Playing an
instrument builds your innate
fundamentals for notes, scales and
chords. I play the guitar, the piano and
the piano accordion for instance.
 The next step is to listen, carefully.
Build your own archive of loved music.
Take note of harmonics, chords, riffs
and styles of music when you are
listening to tracks.

4.  Composing is about having the right
equipment. However, you need
experience to get the right sound.
 You need a microphone to start, and a
sound editing software. Use Audacity
to start with. It is free and extremely
powerful. Build expertise in sound
editing, it is ones of the most important
parts of creating a good track.
 You also obviously need your music
producing instruments and/or vocals.

5.  What you eventually need for
producing quality sound is a quality
microphone. Here is a nice link that
suggests some good mics
(http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/10-
best-affordable-microphones-for-the-
home-studio--audio-25)
 You also need a good recording room.
A bigger room will help reduce
unnecessary echoes and give you a
good dry track. It is best if it away from
external noise. If not, use heavy
curtains and other sound insulation
techniques.
 After your first few recordings, give
your phone mic a break.

6.  This depends on the individual
composer. I for instance identify the
beat and the chord sequences of the
main stanza first.
 When I have frozen on that, I decide on
the tune, which follows my decided
chord sequence. If I want to add a
constant riff in the backdrop, I decide
on that.
 Repeat the above procedure again for
the second and third stanzas (if any).
 Decide on the transitions between
stanzas finally and if I want to put a
solo/instrumental somewhere in
between.

7.  Finally, I trace out the words that would
best fit my beat and also convey the
mood of the tune. It also helps if you
have an idea of what subject you want
to sing about before starting to decide
on the tune.
 It is important that the number of
syllables you use match your beat. This
is where your skill as a lyricist is put to
test, because you have to say what
you want to say and not be too hushed
or too dragged.
 Use your freedom of expression,
because your song is about conveying
an emotion and not about being
technically/grammatically/politically
correct.

8.  Always record a rough track
 Use separate vocal and instrumental
tracks. It is better to use more tracks
than less.
 Read up about the best way to use
your mic and decide on the distance
between your mic and sound source
accordingly. Using a pop filter will give
you better results but it is not a must.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_filter)
 The great advantage of recording a
rough track is obtaining a holistic
picture of your sound before delving
deep into the finer nuances of your
song. Give it a few days and see if it
still sounds good. If you want to make
a change, there is still time.

9.  This is similar to recording your rough track.
 I record instrumentals first and then add my
vocals on top of that. Every sound editing
software (like Audacity) has a record button
that automatically layers the new recorded
tracks with the existing ones. After recording,
you can see, edit, remove and reposition these
tracks now in your software.
 Use the record button in your sound editing
software for recording tracks. This relieves you
of the burdensome task of aligning separate
tracks. Also, your entire merged track sounds
exactly like how you hear it when you sing
along with the already recorded instrumentals.
 Remember, you must not settle for anything
less than perfect. Divide the vocals (either by
yourself or your singer) into multiple segments
to relieve the pressure of getting it all right at
once. Also, the vocalist in a standing posture
produces the better results than otherwise,
mostly.

10.  Use a metronome, as that ensures a
uniform rhythm throughout your song.
 After you have a perfect dry (devoid of
effects) track, apply a few sound
enhancing effects. Typical are Reverb
(Gverb in Audacity), Delay (or Echo in
Audacity) and Noise Removal.
Remember to use duplicate tracks for
each of these effects and use the
volume control on each duplicate track
fine tune the final sound.
 Now, export and share with your
friends!
 Once you are better at this, consider
getting Pro Tools software, especially if
you are using a keyboard with a MIDI
outlet.

11.  Hope I was able to give you an
overview. Don’t wait, explore. Record
the worst of tracks and then slowly get
better. Please visit a few of my
recordings to get a taste of my sound
(links provided below):
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd-
NVLjAe6s
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh
GcI3GVOhY